


Home and Where the Heart Is

by crashlanding_cas



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Immigration & Emigration, M/M, New York City, Possible Future Mpreg, Rating May Change, Sabriel - Freeform, in which Sam isn't any less awkward with guys, mentions of Destiel, shy!Gabe in first chapter, tenement housing AU, turn of the 20th century, warnings will be added when necessary, wow everyone is very OOC right now
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-23
Updated: 2014-07-28
Packaged: 2018-02-10 01:51:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2006457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crashlanding_cas/pseuds/crashlanding_cas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam is from a first-generation Irish family in New York City, and Gabe has just washed up on the shores from Ireland. As it turns out, Sam learns more from the newbie than the newbie learns from Sam.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I Know You

**Author's Note:**

> Ah, hey guys, definitely not my first rodeo but my first fic on ao3. So happy to be a part of this community! Comments and feedback are always, always appreciated. I did my research and there was a wide range of living conditions in the early tenements across the U.S., and daily life consisted of a lot of sharing of space and resources. It was actually quite interesting to look at the floor plans of the buildings and reading about how it was, surprisingly, better living than in their home country for those who immigrated. I should be updating regularly until school starts again, and if I get enough of a positive response. *shuffles away*

Okay, so it wasn't like Gabe had imagined. There was no glorious sky behind the Statue of Liberty or an uplifting jump of his heart. The impending rain had decided that this morning was when it would make its appearance. Everything was in a suffocating fog while the humid rain spat onto Gabe's face as he leaned over the rail. He chewed nervously on a toothpick, feeling it splinter on his tongue and wishing it was candy and not the dead taste of wood. Wishing that this fucking rain would cut it for just a few hours. Wishing that he wasn't so goddamn anxious and panicky. He growled and flicked the remains of the toothpick into the churning water below, looking around at his fellow passengers.

They could have been bedraggled refugees to anyone's eyes; well, that wasn't far from what they really were. A line of silhouettes stretched along the benches and rails of the boat, huddled and tense. This was a blessed opportunity and a risky gamble at the same time. You had to show that you had the tenacity to make it, not the fear to break it. It was a thin line, as Gabriel would soon learn. The mothers, faces sunken into their shawls, held their children tight against their bodies. Those without families, who had either decided to make a life for themselves or had none, tended to congregate near the rails. They were bent pensively over the bars, hands clasped in prayer or thought, who knew. Others gazed in awe at the city slowly forming out of the fog. Whoever you were, your mind wasn't in the present, but in the future. Gabe's mind, however, was in the past. It was in the rolling green hills of Ireland. It was in his village, breathing in the salty sea air that you could smell and taste at the same time. It was sitting in the warm lamplight at home, watching his brother trying and failing to cook something, and laughing at his frustration.

He was rudely yanked back to the present as the ship blasted its horn, signaling its approach. Gabe turned to his mother and brother sitting behind him, their meager baggage sitting at their feet. His mother's golden hair flew away from her face, knowing deep brown eyes focused on something in the distance. Her delicate hands were twisting at the rosary beads in her lap. Age had settled comfortably in her features, letting her grow old with grace. It didn't tell a story of the trials on the farm back home. To her right, his younger brother Castiel was staring right back at him, forcing Gabe to answer questions he wasn't ready to answer. Those eerie blue eyes pierced his "I'm A-Okay, Bud" façade and asked him that one question: "Are we going to be okay?" The answer was that he didn't know. Gabriel felt like he was in charge, and he just didn't know. He was scared. It was all part of that big Unknown that waited for them beyond the docks.

~~ *** ~~

The trio stood outside their new home, looking like curious birds being tempted with food but wary about approaching. The lines of laundry fluttered around in the warm breeze above their heads. Small herds of children splashed in puddles brought down in the last rain, while others huddled around games of marbles on curbs and front steps. The sun had finally burnt off most of the fog, now casting a fuzzy glow into the streets. It was Castiel who took the first step forward, hefting his carpet bag up the steps and opening the door. Gabriel and his mother followed, Gabe's arm locked with his mother's, helping her up the steps. Inside, it was surprisingly dark. They climbed the small staircase up to the two rooms that they would be calling "home". As Gabe turned into the cramped hallway, a small child darted past him and ran straight into Castiel. The young girl wore a dirty dress, and her chestnut hair was pulled into two tired-looking pigtails. Her face though was bright and round, peering up at Cas and giggling. Castiel, having very little knowledge of how to interact with anything that breathed, simply stood there with what he hoped was an affectionate gaze. An apologetic voice came to his rescue.

"Jenny, if you run away again--"

A tall young man with soft, shoulder length brown hair came rushing down the hall, sweeping the girl up into his arms. She immediately started pulling at his hair, trying to get him to release her. He turned his attention to the newcomers, smiling. Gabe felt a blush burn in his cheeks.

"Sorry, this little monster sometimes manages to escape. I'm Sam, we live across the hall. Are you the ones who are moving in?" There was a trace of Irish in the lilt of his voice, so Gabe concluded that he must have been here for a while.

"Aye. Right here, actually." Gabe gestured at the empty rooms to the left.

"Well, let me know if you need anything. My mother, father, younger sister and brother and I live right down there." Sam jerked his head back in the direction from which he had ran.

"Right. Um, thanks." Gabe muttered, waiting for the rest of his family to stop standing there like stunned deer.

"No problem." Sam winked at Gabe as he walked away, Jenny squeaking indignantly as she yanked his hair. Gabriel was pretty sure he glowed with embarrassment from head to toe. Oh. Oh man. What was he going to do.


	2. The Water's Deep

Waking up in the city meant that it felt like everyone was awake before you. Like you were late for some important happening that was, in fact, just the morning. This meant that Gabe really wasn't on board with the whole "wake-up-find-job-get-a-life-for-the-lord's-sake" tirade that his mother was currently throwing at him. Less than a week ago she was a meek little woman, but now she held all the power in their home and man, did she know how to put the fear of God into her boys. She kept things running with an iron fist, and looked the part with her fiery temper and sleeves always shoved past her elbows. Gabriel would think, _May gold rain down from the skies if she isn't solidifying the stereotype._

 

He had waited as long as possible to start searching for a job, but now they were running low on the money they had brought with them and the income from his mother's job at the twine factory just wasn't cutting it. There was no such thing as "too young" to work it seemed, so Castiel would have to put in his share. Gabe was used to working on a farm, the only call to work the sun dawning in the sky and the end of work signaled by the tolling of the evening bells. He didn't work under anyone's thumb, but soon enough he would have to be someone's _bitch._ He dreaded the thought of working in a stuffy mill or factory, dust in his eyes and filling his lungs. The outdoors was where Gabe belonged, and he was going to find a job where he could see the sky.

 

After splashing some water on his face and pulling on some halfway decent clothes, Gabe slunk out into the hall before his mother could change his mind.

 

"Hey! Hold on!"

 

Oh boy. The lumberjack was hailing him down, eyes sparkling like a kid who's chasing seagulls. Gabe turned away for a brief second, trying to compose himself. A hand landed on his shoulder. He jumped. And squeaked. The shorter man wanted to punch himself.

 

"Hi! I, oh--sorry. I heard you were looking for a job?" Sam asked as Gabriel fixed him with a suspicious glare, raising an eyebrow.

 

"Oh yeah? How'd ya know that?" The tall brunette flushed.

 

"Ah, um, your mother has been rambling on about it for the past week. I was the unlucky soul to be on laundry duty whenever she was."

 

Gabriel groaned, rolling his eyes and falling against the wall. Sam laughed, giving Gabe a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

 

"Only because I think we may have an opening down at the printer's for another newsie." Gabe's face lit up.

 

"I'm headed there right now. You can come too, if you want."

* * *

Before he could decide to run in the opposite direction, Gabriel had an armful of papers and a bag over his shoulder.

 

"How you doin' ?" Sam shouted over the noise of the crowds.

 

"Thinkin' bout yelling some downright vulgar headlines just to get this stack out of my hands!" Gabe yelled back just as loud. Sam threw him that big, dopey smile of his. Gabe liked it when Sam smiled. It made him feel safe in some back corner of his mind.

 

The flow of people into the market place began to dwindle, and finally died out as the sky turned orange with evening. The air ran cool, and Gabe closed his eyes, probably feeling the most at peace since he had arrived in the country. But the breeze also reminded him of his old home, and suddenly he missed everything. A choked sob ground itself out of his throat. Gabriel slapped a hand over his mouth, eyes darting to Sam to be sure he didn't hear. He didn't, but he was headed towards Gabe.

 

"You did a pretty decent job...we can probably leave now." Sam told him like it was a suggestion more than an order. Gabriel took a deep breath, but his voice still quaked a little when he spoke.

 

"O-Okay. And thank you."

 

"Hah, don't thank me yet." Sam winked at him. Gabe just wanted to tangle his hands in that idiot's  _hair_ and pull him down into a kiss.

 

They walked back to their building in almost complete silence, and Gabe was starting to wonder if Sam actually had heard him lose it back there. Sam was constantly pushing his hair back and looking like he was about to say something or considering it. Gabe could practically feel the insecurity radiating off the taller man. Had he said something? Done something? Was--

 

Gabriel came to an abrupt stop when a hand grabbed his wrist. Laundry fluttered on a line overhead. A cart rattled over stones a street over. It was an exchange of unspoken words and all Sam could think about was how the last few rays of light buried themselves in Gabe's eyes. They looked like autumn leaves through honey, with something pure swimming behind them.

 

Sam tilted his head and frowned. His mouth tried to form words, but they got all muddled on the way out.

 

"Y-You're--gorg--gor--golden--um, golden in my book if you ever need anything." _Fuck._

 

Gabe tried not to laugh. Sam had already told him that, but hey, he could say anything and Gabe would think it was worth writing down. Gabriel tried to brush off the awkward by taking Sam's hand and giving it an enthusiastic shake.

 

"It's been great working with you too, Sammy-boy!" Gabe joked, watching Sam's face pull itself back together into a lopsided grin.

 

That night, it was the ghost of Sam's rough, calloused hand on his wrist that kept Gabe up. That and knowing he would be seeing Sam every day of every week until he couldn't look at him anymore. Kill him now if that was ever going to happen.

 

 

 


End file.
